Re: Can't restore bkf files from disk

I'm sorry -- I haven't had a chance to work on this today, but please bear
with me. It's just been an extremely trying day that began with a visit to
the doctor's office and I haven't had the time nor patience to work on this.
I will try again tomorrow afternoon. I appreciate your help, and would
really like to get at least part of the files back if that's at all possible.
thanks.

"Pegasus [MVP]" wrote:

I had a look at the file header that you sent to my Yahoo mailbox. It was
created by ntbackup.exe without any doubt. Whether ntbackup will open the
whole file I cannot tell because I have only a small fragment.

What is the result of Steps 1 to 8 I posted in my previous reply?


"Pegasus [MVP]" <news@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:e3htflmEKHA.1252@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sorry, so far I have not seen any file attached to your responses. Did you
check your posted responses after sending them? Can you see any
attachments? If you can't then you could send them by EMail to
pegasus_fnlATyahooDOTcom.

From your current reply I gather that the problem may not so much lie with
your .bkf file but with your .zip file. If your .zip file is damaged then
it will not restore a readable .bkf file.

I am suspicious about your phrase "It apparently unzipped successfully".
You need to approach this issue in a systematic manner so that there is no
doubt about what you're doing. There is no room for words such as
"apparently" in this process. I recommend you do this:
1. Create the folder c:\Restore.
2. Copy the .zip file to c:\Restore.
3. Unzip it.
4. Report the result of the unzip action.
5. Where did the unzipped .bkf file go?
6. If it did not go into c:\Restore, move it there.
7. Try to open the file c:\Restore\xxx.bkf with ntbackup.
8. If unsuccessful, run my .vbs program so that you can
send me the header block of this .bkf file.

"CS" <CS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:5E14055F-81D1-4418-9FC3-1EB06815B789@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
No. I mean I tried on two separate occassions to open the same backup
file
-- I only did one backup and that was on 7/17.

As it stands now, there is a file folder on my c: drive created 7/17
called
"Backup", within that folder there is another file folder called
"Backup",
within that folder is the bkf file, but when I try to open it, I get the
following errors:

Some data in your zip file is damaged - crc check failed;
unable to extract - the size of the extracted file (909971058) does not
match the compressed size (909986816) recorded in the zip file.

There is another file folder under My Documents that I created on the
25th
called "Extracted from Backup". Within that folder is another file
folder
called "Backup". Within that file folder is the bkf file that I sent
you.
It apparently unzipped successfully, but when I try to open it with the
Windows Backup Utility, it
gives me the following error: The backup file contains unrecognized data
and cannot be used

I was working under a different user name each time I attempted to open
the
files, does that make a difference? both users are in the administrator
group. As a matter of fact, the user name I was working under when I
performed the backup (prior to the clean install) doesn't even exist
anymore
because when I reinstalled windows, I did not create a user with that
name.



"Pegasus [MVP]" wrote:

I don't quite follow your description of restoration attempts. Do you
perhaps mean "back-up" when you say "restore"?

Perhaps you cannot find your .bkf file because it is hidden. When
prompted
then you can enter its name and location manually, e.g. like so:

"c:\documents and settings\CarlS\Desktop\SomeFile.bks"


"CS" <CS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:E630DFA4-7001-4C00-B726-C18385C1682A@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The 6 steps you listed are exactly what I did. I saved it to disk and
also
on a flash drive, neither of which works on the restore utility.

Here is the vbs document. The date time and size of the bkf file is
7/25/09; 11:45 am; 350,040 KB. For the zip file it's 7/25/09; 12:05
pm;
244,589.

However, there is another issue: the above files created on 7/25 was
my
second attempt to restore. The first attempt was on 7/17 and the
files
are
considerably larger - 570 MB on the zip and 88659 KB (584,433 (packed)
on
the
bkf (why was the zip so much larger than the bkf?). When I tried to
create a
vbs file for this first attempt, it would not find the bkf file, yet
it
shows
up on drive c: in windows explorer. What is the reason for that?

"Pegasus [MVP]" wrote:


"CS" <CS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:F56C3044-074B-4B61-A74B-8AB298504E0B@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I recently did a clean reinstall (windows xp pro sp2) and had saved
my
files
(favorites, documents, photos, etc.) using the Windows backup
utility
(ntbackup). I saved the backup to my hard drive, zipped it, and
transferred
the zip to a disk in drive D. After the reinstall of Windows XP
Pro, I
moved
the zip back to the hard drive, unzipped it (with Winzip) but could
not
restore my files. I get the message "The backup file contains
unrecognized
data and cannot be used." Googling the problem, I found a some
programs
to
recover the corrupted files but they cost anywhere from $80 to
$150. I
can't
afford to pay that!! The most frustrating part is microsoft making
the
backup part a breeze (oh sure, just click here and there and pick
what
you
want to back up -- nothing to it!) and then they leave you high and
dry
by
NOT telling you you're on your own when it comes to the restoring
part.
Are
there any free programs out there I can use? I think Microsoft
should
provide one!! It seems there are tons of people with the same
problem!!

Any ideas???

There were several steps involved in creating and manipulating your
backup
file:
1. Create it with ntbackup.exe.
2. Zip it with some compression tool.
3. Transfer it to drive D:.
4. Transfer it back from drive D:
5. Unzip it.
6. Restore it.
Mistakes can happen in each and every one of these steps, which is
why it
is
absolutely essential to check one's ability to restore irreplaceable
files
*before* deleting the source data. Blaming ntbackup.exe is perhaps a
little
premature - the problem could have happened in any one of the six
steps
you
performed. Whether your data can be recovered is uncertain but an
examination of your .bkf file might shed some light on the cause of
the
problem. Try this process. It will extract the header from your .bkf
file,
which you can then attach to your reply for examination.
1. Click Start/Run
2. Type this command:
notepad c:\Extract.vbs
3. Click OK.
4. Allow a new file to be created.
5. Copy and paste the code below into the notepad.
6. Save & close the file.
7. Click Start / Run
8. Type this command:
c:\Extract.vbs
9. Click the OK button.
10. Select your .bkf file when prompted.
11. Click the OK button.
12. Attach the file c:\Test.bin to your response.
13. Report the date, time and size of your .bkf file.
14. Report the date, time and size of your .zip file.

Note also that backing up your files before re-installing Windows was
a
good
idea but fell well short of standard data processing practice. If
important
data is stored on a PC then this data must be backed up to an
external
medium at regular intervals, e.g. weekly. Not doing this is asking
for
trouble. A 2.5" disk in an external USB case is a low-cost but highly
effective backup medium.

sTest = "c:\Test.bin"
sFSO = "Scripting.FileSystemObject"
sDialog = "UserAccounts.CommonDialog"
Set oFSO = CreateObject(sFSO)
Set oDialog = CreateObject(sDialog)
oDialog.Filter = "All Files|*.bkf"
oDialog.InitialDir = "c:\"
If oDialog.ShowOpen <> 0 _
Then sName = oDialog.FileName _
Else WScript.Quit
Set oFile = oFSO.OpenTextFile(sName)
sData = oFile.Read(10000)
oFile.Close
Set oFile = oFSO.CreateTextFile(sTest, True)
oFile.Write sData
oFile.Close
MsgBox "10,000 bytes of data written to " & sTest, 0











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